Man charged with arson in Colorado fire that destroyed 29 homes

A Colorado man has been charged with arson following an investigation into a wildfire this summer that destroyed 29 homes and caused more than $30 million in property damage, authorities said.

Jason Alexander Hobby, 49, was arrested last week, Larimer County Sheriff John Feyen said. He appeared in court on a first-degree arson charge in connection with the fire, which started at a guest ranch where he worked west of Loveland, about 60 miles north of Denver.

His bail was set at $450,000.

The fire escaped from a ring of fire at the guest farm on July 29, Feyen said. It’s unclear whether it was intentional or accidental, he said. The fire, which also damaged four other homes and destroyed 21 outbuildings, burned 15 square miles of land before it was contained on August 17.

The cost to put out the fire was more than $11 million, District Attorney Gordon McLaughlin told the court.

Hobby was fired from his job at the guest ranch after he became a suspect in the fire, Feyen said.

Hobby is also charged with impersonating a police officer, menacing and false imprisonment for allegedly stopping travelers on guests’ ranch property while driving an SUV designed to look like a police vehicle. Hobby allegedly posed as law enforcement, falsely told the people they were trespassing and pointed a gun at them, investigators said. That happened in March 2023, one of the victims said in court on Wednesday.

Hobby had a pickup truck outfitted to look like a fire truck and used it to pass checkpoints during the fire, the sheriff said. He is also charged with two counts of impersonating a public official.

Hobby’s bail was originally set at $250,000, but McLaughlin asked that it be increased to $1 million cash. He said he is concerned Hobby may leave the area and is being investigated for wildfires in Wyoming. McLaughlin did not say when or where those fires occurred, and court officials said the affidavit was sealed.

A public defender unsuccessfully argued that his bail remain at $250,000, saying Hobby had his own business and lived in Loveland with his wife.

Hobby’s next court appearance is set for September 24.

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Catastrophe Natural disasters Fire in Colorado